That Fighting Chance
by Swiftchanted
Summary: You know what they say about frogs; if you put them in a frying pan and turn up the heat slowly, they'll just stay there until they die? Well that was the Shannon family. Even 85 million years in the past, this now applies yet again to a certain Shannon.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **That Fighting Chance

**Fandom:** Maddy/Mark

**Rated:** T

**Timeline: **Starts in 2149, then we get to hop through the portal and go back a good 85 million years. ;)

**Summary:** You know what they say about frogs; if you put them in a frying pan and turn up the heat slowly, they'll just stay there until they die? Well that was the Shannon family. Even 85 million years in the past, this now applies yet again to a certain Shannon.

**A/N: **Welcome to this lovely little multi-chapter fic! Shouldn't last too long, I promise that I won't irritate you that much with this. :) Anyways, in order for you to fully understand this story, I highly suggest you hightail it over to YouTube and look up Elisabeth and Jim's psychiatric evaluations. And if you're really bored after that, you could maybe go watch all the lovely videos I've made for Terra Nova. But that's if you wanna. ;)

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><p><em><strong>Chicago, 2149 AD<strong>_

Maddy Shannon had had a very long day.

As much as she loved school, Maddy had been feeling a bit under the weather. It wasn't that nervous feeling she had in her stomach most days when she arrived at school, knowing that someone would be waiting to pounce on her and force her to give them her homework to copy. Sure, she'd had that today, but for some reason, it had risen to her esophagus recently. And it hadn't been going away. But she'd shaken it off, figuring it was just a little cough.

The air had seemed to have gotten even worse. But then again, this was a world on its deathbed, on its last breath, a world where life would soon cease to exist. Maddy couldn't even remember going a day in her life when she didn't have to wear a rebreather. They had almost become an asset to human life in the past few decades. Maddy wasn't too fond of her rebreather; yes she used it- it was a necessity if you wanted to survive outside- but she didn't see much use to it. Had her mother not been a doctor or the option to school herself been there, she wouldn't have any use to go out in the real world. But her mother and father had prodded her to go out in the world. She was a beautiful fourteen year old girl at the time, not only beautiful but intelligent. She might as well use whatever talent she'd been given, it wouldn't be too too long before the world let out its last exhalation and fell dead.

But she was sixteen now. Her mother was the only guardian there. Her father was off in Golad prison. Her brother was probably the only man in her life that could be considered a father like figure. Her little sister was the reason she'd had to grow up quickly. What with her mom gone long hours sometimes, it was only Josh, Maddy, and Zoe, and the occasional appearance from Kara, but other than that, they had to be the adults around.

Walking along the street parallel with their apartment building with Josh, she began to cough. Josh looked over at his sister concerned. She was practically hunched over her books, hacking and coughing, unable to stop. Resting a hand on his sister, Josh bent his head down to Maddy's level and whispered in her ear, "Are you alright?"

His voice through the rebreather sounded almost horrific; crackling and monotone, in a robotic sense if you thought about it. Maddy looked up at her brother, nodding. The edges of her false smile were showing through her rebreather, yet her eyes were watering. She hadn't stopped coughing yet. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Are we almost there?" she asked in between coughs.

Finally reaching the door of the building, Josh opened it for his younger sister who was still coughing. Josh was now convinced that Maddy was coming down with something. What with the air being bad and the horrid weather conditions, Josh stripped himself of his coat and wrapped it around Maddy's shoulders. He then took her books and placed himself behind her, urging her forward to their apartment as fast as possible so they could get the rebreather off and see what the hell was happening.

Maddy was almost choking at this point. Tears streamed down her face from the lack of air, and she felt her chest continually heave, straining to get air into her lungs. Adjusting her rebreather a smidge so it covered her nose and mouth to the fullest, she walked rapidly, Josh on her heels.

She suddenly stopped, her entire body shaking from the next cough that escaped her lips. Maddy had been diagnosed with a stomach bug before; whenever you got nauseated enough, your entire body seemed to bend from the will of the convulsion and heaved forward as you got sick. Maddy felt herself lurch forward, and Josh immediately dashed to the front of her. He grabbed her shoulders and forced her head upwards as she let out a trembling cough, shaking her entire body. More tears rolled down her cheeks as she whimpered. In the pale light, Josh could see blood trickling out of Maddy's rebreather. Eyes widened, he threw their things down on the ground.

"Josh, my books!" she said; her voice scratchy and rough from the last cough. There was still a tickle in her throat, and she tried to force it back down. Josh merely ignored her as he grabbed his sister and picked her up bridal style as gently as possible. It figures that his sister would be coughing up blood, and not care about it, but yet she'd freak the hell out if he dropped her books and plex.

"I can come back for your stuff Maddy; right now we need to get you inside." He then began to run for their apartment; it wasn't too far from there. Reaching the door, he began to kick on the bottom of it. There was no way he was going to risk dropping his already ill sister just to get the key card out. His mother, who was apparently home from work early, answered the door. Pushing past her, he ran into their tiny living room.

Elisabeth Shannon was terrified. Dashing into the living area, she watched as Josh slung Maddy's rebreather off her and lay her down gently on the couch. Maddy's body was flopping like a fish as she coughed. Elisabeth could see something red coming out of her mouth, and it was running down her daughter's face. Little Zoe walked over to her mother. "Mommy, what's wrong with Maddy?" she asked.

Elisabeth bent down to Zoe's level, her hands shaking. "Sweetie, everything's going to be okay, but Mommy needs you to go to your room, okay? Josh will be in there in a minute, I promise." Zoe nodded and walked off to her room, confused as to why her mother wouldn't let her go see what was wrong with Maddy.

Rushing over to Maddy's side, she pushed all of Maddy's hair out of the way. She watched as almost instinctually, Maddy's back arched every time she coughed. It was as though her body was trying to relieve itself of the pain. Josh was sitting in the floor on the opposite side, toying with the rebreather. He put it up to his own lips, trying to figure out if something was wrong with it. But he couldn't seem to find a flaw, so he turned to his mother. "Call the hospital, then go occupy Zoe." Elisabeth said; her voice shaky. Josh didn't move, and so Elisabeth looked him in the eyes, her own filled with terror. "Go!" she demanded, her voice still quavering. More blood came out of Maddy's mouth and Elisabeth grabbed the glass of water on the nightstand. "Sweetie, do you think you can drink some water?" she asked quietly.

Maddy finally stopped coughing, wiping the tears from her eyes as she gulped the air, almost panting. Elisabeth let out a tiny smile, helping her daughter sit up just a bit. Handing her the water glass, she nodded. "Yeah, that's my girl," she murmured quietly. She could hear Josh's angry voice coming from the other room; he had clearly gotten the hospital but was having a bit of an angry discussion with them. "Hold on a second darling, I'm going to go get a washcloth and we're going to clean you up." Maddy just nodded slowly, still panting and taking small sips of water in between quenching her thirst for the air.

Moments later, she returned with a warm washcloth. She took the water glass from Maddy and began to wipe her face free from the already drying blood. Maddy's eyes closed, as though she was trying to go to sleep. She let out tiny, short coughs every so often as her mother tried to soothe her. There was a harsh bang on the door, and Elisabeth rushed to it, handing Josh the washcloth as she flew through the kitchen. Zoe was sitting on Josh's lap, and he was quietly singing to her. He then watched as his mother opened the door, and tensed up. "Come on Zo, let's go to my room and we'll play, alright?" He picked up his little sister and began to walk to his room.

The hospital staff flew in the room with a more harsh edge to them, directly to Maddy's side. One picked her rebreather up while the others rolled her onto a stretcher. Maddy's eyes were closed, her mouth shut as her body continued to shake as she let out little coughs. Elisabeth grabbed her daughter's hand and squeezed it, as they then attached an extremely large, obviously obsolete version of a rebreather onto her. The man toying with the rebreather took the device and shoved it in his pocket. Elisabeth raised an eyebrow. The man just tilted his head a bit. "Doctor Shannon, this rebreather's a bit dysfunctional. How long has your daughter been using this?"

Elisabeth could feel her own throat restrict as she just stared at her daughter. The rebreather was dysfunctional. She was silent for a moment, trapped in all her thoughts. _Maddy's rebreather hasn't been working for God knows how long. She could have died. Correction, she still might die. My baby might die because her rebreather hasn't been working. My baby…_ "My baby," she murmured. She was finally broken out of her trance by the same man, who tapped her on her shoulder. Whipping around, the man smiled sadly.

"Doctor Shannon, are you coming with us?" he asked quietly. She nodded, motioning to the perfectly still statue that was Josh to go get Zoe and to come along. He nodded, and dashed off. Elisabeth threw on her coat and pulled her own rebreather out, slipping it over her face. She hoped to God that the rest of the family's rebreathers were functioning properly, she didn't want to have to see another one of her children or herself even on a stretcher. Zoe came out of her room, flying into her mother's arms. Elisabeth put Zoe's rebreather on her, and adjusted it tightly. She wasn't going to let her other daughter get sick. She did the same with Josh's, and to her surprise, he didn't complain. Then the three walked out of the apartment, behind an almost lifeless Maddy.

It didn't surprise Elisabeth that she'd have to spend the rest of her evening in the one place she spent most her life. Hours later, Elisabeth found herself sitting in a chair in Maddy's room at the hospital. Maddy was now knocked out cold, thanks to the drugs and painkillers. Every so often, Maddy would cough again and scare the living hell out of Elisabeth, but she'd then murmur a little and drift back into her slumber. She'd sent Josh and Zoe back home out of irrational fear that the same would happen to them, leaving Elisabeth to a sleeping Maddy and her thoughts.

She'd learned that for god knows how long, Maddy's rebreather hadn't been filtering the air properly. All the smog and toxins in the air hadn't been entirely eliminated like it should have. Certain poisons had been slipping through the rebreather along with oxygen, causing Maddy's lungs to become affected. They'd fixed her well, yes, but now Elisabeth couldn't help but to feel nauseated. She was watching a machine breathe for her daughter, and it was truly terrifying. Would Maddy ever truly recover from this little stint?

Thinking about her daughter, she remembered when Maddy had come home one day from school, spouting interesting facts that'd she'd learned that day like she always did. _"Well, in science we were studying biology, and as irrelevant as it sounds, it's true…did you know that if you put a frog in a frying pan and slowly turn the heat up, it'll just stay there until it dies?"_ Right about now, Elisabeth felt like she was that frog. This world was the frying pan, so to speak. The heat continued to turn up, and she couldn't escape. And she had no choice but to just sit there as she and everyone else just slowly died. Scooting the chair closer to her daughter's bedside, she clasped Maddy's hand tightly. "Everything's going to be fine, sweetheart." But Elisabeth knew that she wasn't fooling anyone. She wasn't even fooling herself for that matter.

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><p><em><strong>Terra Nova, 85 million years in the past<strong>_

"Mom, I'm going to be fine, I promise," Maddy soothed her mother as she patted the woman's shoulder. Elisabeth nodded, leaning against the rover. Jim stood very close to his daughter in a protective stance, and Maddy gently nudged him away. "And Dad, you need to relax. We're only going to be a few clicks away at one of the posts, Corporeal Reilly's going to be with us; you've got no reason to be worrying."

The other rover stood stationed right next to the gates as Guzman and Malcolm stocked it with the proper weapons and medical supplies that might come in handy. Maddy had taken up a job as one of the scientist's apprentice, and they were all going OTG to one of the posts to test some plant samples that had been affecting a bunch of the wildlife lately. Jim thought this was absurd. And dangerous. What if Maddy got infected somehow? And no, he was not being too paranoid, thank you very much.

Maddy looked around. Leaning away from her father, she began to whisper to her mother through clenched teeth. "Where's Mark?" she asked. Her father looked like an eagle, trying to catch wind of the conversation but to no avail. Her mother hit Jim in the back of the head as he began to lean in towards the both of them to listen in.

"Mark is right over there. Your father and I are going to go make sure the other rover is fully supplied." Elisabeth said, shooting a glare at Jim, who looked horrified. There was no way in hell he was leaving now. Jim rubbed the back of his neck and pointed at the back of the rover.

"You know Liz, I think I better stay here and make sure this rover's ready to go, I haven't seen Guzman and Wallace over here-"

"Move it." Elisabeth said, dragging Jim away to a different rover. It continued to amaze Maddy that her mother, who was a fairly petite woman, was able to drag someone as muscular and built as her father in any direction without any effort.

Mark slowly made his way over to his girlfriend, hands behind his back. Maddy gave him a half smile as she put her own hands around her stomach. Towering at least two heads over her, he rested one of his hands on her neck. He could feel the blood pulsing through her veins in her neck, a lot faster than usual. "I don't know how I'm going to get through the next ninety six hours without you," he murmured. She let out a little giggle.

"Mark Reynolds actually did a little math for me? How sweet," she teased, poking his chest. Letting out a sigh, she looked up at him. "But you said it yourself; it's only ninety six hours. And one of those hours is just travel…yeah, that didn't make you feel any better, did it?" Maddy turned a bright shade of red with a sheepish grin on her face. Mark shook his head as he brushed a stray piece of hair out of her eyes. Closing her eyes, she swallowed. "I'll be back before you know it."

"I wish you didn't have to go," was the only thing Mark could manage out. He wanted to believe that this was just one of his nightmares. Normally, it was him who was going OTG for god knows what reason and she was the one who stayed on edge and worried as hell until he came back. And now the tables were turned. She just nodded as his thumb ran over her cheek. "Stay with Reilly, okay? She'll keep you safe. You don't want to give me a hernia from worrying, now do you?" he asked, part of him kidding, and part of him dead serious.

"I will." Maddy choked out. She knew she was on the verge of tears; she'd never been this emotional before. "I love you," she whispered, so faintly that she was worried he hadn't heard her. But he must have, because the next thing she knew she found her lips being occupied. Grabbing Mark's arm, she kissed him back gently. A loud throat clearing from a few feet over was the end of that, and Maddy's face went red yet again. "That would be my father."

Mark just nodded, pulling Maddy into a bone crushing hug. He knew that Jim Shannon was probably shooting mental missiles at him, but he could deal with that later. His Maddy was going OTG without him. So much for the whole 'always being there to protect her' promise. He hoped Reilly would take care of his Maddy like he'd asked her to. "Be good, okay?" he asked.

Maddy nodded, letting out a little laugh. "Don't let my dad give you too hard of a time." Holding onto his hand until she was finally out of his reach, she gave him a sad little smile as she walked over to her father. Jim then immediately enveloped his daughter into a hug, enough to practically choke her. "Dad…let me go…can't breathe," she said, her voice muffled.

"Oh, right, sorry," Jim muttered. He then kissed the top of Maddy's head and helped her into the rover. Putting his arm around Elisabeth, they watched as the gates opened and the two rovers pulled out. Mark could feel his heart throb, watching as the girl he loved drove off into the jungle. Elisabeth wrapped her spare arm around Mark's shoulder, squeezing it gently. He knew how badly this was killing him. The gates finally went down, and there was no other choice but to go back to normal.

Mark stood in front of the gate, just watching nothing but an open space, waiting for his Maddy to return.

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><p>Maddy held onto one of the handles inside the rover as they leapt over a hill. Reilly, who was sitting across from her, smiled sympathetically at her. "You alright, Miss Shannon?" she asked. Maddy pasted a smile on her face, tight lipped and no teeth showing. "We'll be at the post in about another fifteen minutes." Maddy just nodded.<p>

She was feeling horrible. The driver, who went by the name William, was pretty reckless. Reilly seemed pretty used to it all, because she looked just fine. Maddy knew her face had to be tinted green at this point. Reilly reached over and patted Maddy's kneecap. Suddenly, Maddy found herself having a newfound appreciation for the woman.

From the passenger side of the rover, another member of security who was sent to check on some other things at the post, Henry, looked back at Reilly. "Go ahead and radio Terra Nova, we're almost there," he said. Reilly nodded.

"Maddy, do you mind handing me that?" Reilly asked, pointing to the receiver. Maddy bent down, one hand still clutched tightly to the handles. She handed it to Reilly, and then tried to nestle back and get comfortable. Almost there, she told herself. Almost there.

Just when Reilly had picked up the radio, there was a voice coming through. The scientist who Maddy was apprentice to began talking, saying a bunch of things Maddy didn't know. It had to be some sort of jungle talk. Maddy looked out the tiny window behind her to see the other rover racing through the jungle. "What are they doing?" she mumbled.

That was when Maddy heard the next sentence come out of the receiver, something even the most inexperienced person could understand. "Took a wrong turn, in Slasher territory." Maddy's blood felt as though ice water had been injected into her veins. She then began chanting to herself._ Slashers hunt at night. It's three pm. It's dead daylight out. Slashers hunt at night._ William then made a hard right, causing Maddy to yelp a little in shock.

"Copy that, we're calling Terra Nova now." Reilly said. She then began to turn the radio dial, trying to reach Terra Nova. "Terra Nova, come in. Terra Nova, do you read me?" Suddenly there was a screech from outside the rover. Again, Maddy's blood ran cold as she tried to reassure herself that it was just a Howler.

"Slashers hunt at…they hunt at night, right?" she asked William. William nodded as he made another hard turn. Henry had his gun out the tiny window, keeping an eye out for Slashers. Just another reason to be horrified.

There was another screech and Henry began firing. Maddy wanted to scream and cover her ears, but she just sat there immobilized. She couldn't do anything; she was frozen. Reilly was talking rapidly to whoever had answered their distress call. Maddy had to find something to get her mind off this. She then looked out the window, just trying to calm down.

She then realized that she'd made a big mistake.

The other rover was firing like crazy at what was indeed, a Slasher. More ice water flowed through her veins and she couldn't breathe. Not only one Slasher, but two, were chasing after the other rover. The rover seemed to fly as the Slashers chased after it. One of the tails hit the side of it, and the other side was smashed by the other. It then flipped over and into the brush. Maddy closed her eyes as she turned around as fast as she could, terrified that she'd see a Slasher's eye looking right back at her if she didn't move. She then swallowed the bile that was rising from her throat.

There was a whipping sound from outside the rover, and Henry continued to fire. "GET DOWN!" William yelled as he made a U-Turn. Maddy dived down into the rover along with Reilly. Reilly slid Maddy a gun, and Maddy's eyes widened. Reilly was still shouting into the receiver, her voice on the edge of cracking.

"Terra Nova, can you read me? Repeat, there are Slashers out here, Slashers! Rover two flipped. Terra Nova, come in!" More gunfire sounded, and there was a screech. William stepped on the gas and they leaped forward, flying through the air. Reilly continued her distress call over and over as Henry continued to fire at the Slasher. He suddenly ducked his head back into the rover.

"GET DOWN, SLASHER TAIL!" he shouted. William let go of the wheel and ducked down, his foot still on the gas. Henry dove into the back with Reilly and Maddy as the Slasher's tail hit the passenger door. The rover rocked a bit, but finally went stable again, racing through the jungle. Henry looked up at Maddy, panting. "Do you know how to work a gun?" he asked. Maddy shrugged, and William rose up from his hiding spot. He took the wheel and spun it around, turning back. They'd clearly lost a bit of control there. There was more noise coming in from the Slashers, their irritated screeches echoing in the jungle.

"TERRA NOVA, COME IN! TERRA NOVA!" Reilly all but screamed. Slamming the receiver back down, she grabbed a gun. "Alright Shannon, your dad might kill me for this, but here's how you work this bad boy. You see the tiny trigger right there? Right by your pinky finger," Reilly said, rushed as William continued driving. He was mumbling something about damned Slashers. Maddy just nodded. "Alright, all you gotta do to shoot is to just barely touch it. If you pull too hard, you'll run out of ammo, and we need all that we have. Aim for the underbelly, okay?"

It was a bit much for Maddy to take in, but she just nodded. From the front, William slammed on the gas pedal. "WE'VE GOTTA FIND SOMEWHERE TO STOP, OUR POWER CELLS ARE GOING TO DRAIN AND WE'LL BE STUCK!" he shouted. There were more screeches from the Slashers, but they seemed to be coming from behind them.

"THE POST, HEAD FOR THE POST!" Henry bellowed, firing a couple shots out of the tiny window. Maddy just stared at the gun in her hand. She was going to have to use this? Talk about OTG post gone wrong. And she had thought getting stuck OTG with Mark that time when there was a sonic wave was bad.

"ARE YOU INSANE?" William screamed as he made a hard left again, just barely missing a humongous tree. "THE POST IS AT LEAST A CLICK AWAY, AND THE KEY CARD WE NEED TO GET IN IS IN THE OTHER ROVER!"

"DO YOU NOT KNOW WHAT THE TERM BLASTING THE DOOR OPENS?" Reilly screeched. "WE'VE GOT TO AT LEAST TRY!"

William sighed, turning around. His foot was still firmly planted on the gas, the Slasher screeches growing a bit more distant. "WE'LL BE STUCK OUT HERE; THE POWER CELLS WILL BE DEAD!"

"Look, I know I'm just an apprentice, but if we get to the post, we can at least call for help. We can always find a way to charge the cells," Maddy said, trying to reasonable. William opened his mouth to reply with another complaint, but Maddy had finally snapped. "OH FOR GOD'S SAKE, HEAD FOR THE POST; WE'LL BE SAFER THERE!" she screamed. William didn't complain, but simply swiveled back around in his seat and continued driving.

Reilly looked at Maddy. "Maddy, do you think you can fire a couple of shots at those Slashers? All you have to do is hold the gun out the window at an angle and hold the trigger down for at least five seconds." Maddy nodded. She then turned herself around, getting up on her knees. She wasn't a gunman at the least, but there was a first time for everything. She rested the barrel of the gun on her shoulder and hung the neck out the window. Turning it so it faced the falling back Slashers, she felt her heart skip a few beats. She'd never actually seen a real Slasher, except for on her plex. Taking a deep breath, she pressed the trigger and held it for five seconds. The bullets fired out of the gun, and the Slashers roared with irritation. Maddy then pulled the gun back in, but not before slicing her arm on the inside of the rover.

Setting the gun down on the floor of the rover, Maddy looked around for a piece of cloth. Blood was already flowing down her arm. William was in the front, chanting to himself like the little engine that could. Reilly spotted blood dripping down Maddy's arm, and immediately pulled out one of the medical kits. She pulled out a roll of gauze and reached out to grab Maddy's arm. Once she had her arm, she took the gauze and wrapped up Maddy's arm as tight as she could. She then pulled a metal clip out and secured it. She just nodded to Maddy as she climbed back up front.

"Are we almost there?" Henry asked, pouring sweat. He dropped his gun onto the floor of the rover and collapsed against a wall.

"I don't know if we'll make it, the power cells are almost drained and we've got a half a click to go!" William responded.

"WELL THEN STEP ON IT, AND HURRY! THOSE SLASHERS ARE CATCHING UP!" he screamed. William pounded the gas as they made a right turn, the rover flying in the air. Henry was screaming to go as he turned around and began firing around. "MADDY, START FIRING OUT THE OTHER WINDOW, LIMIT YOUR AMMO!" Maddy nodded, and hung the gun out the window. The Slashers were much closer than they'd been before, and it was a bit horrifying. They can smell my blood. She began to fire, counting each second she held the trigger down. Her and Henry had gotten into a pattern; one would fire for five seconds out one window while the other got ready to aim for the underbelly, and then so on. It seemed to be working. Reilly was up front, searching for more power cells. "WE'RE ALMOST THERE!" Henry yelled. "JUST GO!"

Maddy pulled the gun back in the window and closed her eyes. She was going to die out here, she just knew it. "THE SLASHERS ARE BACKING OFF, BUT WE'RE ABOUT DEAD!" Reilly shouted from up front. Henry motioned for them to keep going. Maddy tried to regulate her breathing, sweat pouring from her forehead. She'd already bit her lip so hard it was bleeding at that point.

Henry pulled himself back into the rover and dropped the gun. "They're gone. They've smelled something dead and they totally backtracked. Are we going to make it?" he asked. Reilly shook her head. Just as Henry let out a groan, the rover pulled to a stop. Maddy's eyes shot open. William began to pound on the gas, but nothing happened.

"Damnit, they're dead," he sighed. Maddy looked around.

"Well, what do we do now?" she asked.

Reilly shrugged, tossing Maddy a rubber band to tie her hair up. "We have no choice, we have to stay here and fight off the Slashers until the morning. We've got about a fourth of a click left to go before we get to the post, so once it's daylight, we'll make a run for it."

"What about the rover?"

Reilly rolled her eyes. "Henry, if we get to the post, we can get in touch with Terra Nova. It'll be a hell of a lot safer at the post than here in this rover."

William looked at Reilly, his eyes wide. "You really think we can make the night out here?" he asked.

Maddy piped up. "We've got meds and plenty of ammo; I think we can last the night. We can always try to get the radio to work again," she said. She was not only trying to convince the others, but herself as well. Reilly nodded.

"The other rover?" William asked. There was a moment of dead silence, and Maddy gulped. She was just thankful that she had been put in the rover she was in, otherwise she would have been Slasher food. Reilly shook her head.

"We can't afford to go back; we're at least four clicks from them. It's too dangerous. They're on their own, just like we are," she said.

"So we get ready to fight?" Henry said, clearing his throat.

"We get ready to fight." Reilly agreed.

As everyone began moving about in the rover, Maddy stayed stationary. They could fight, sure, but that sure as hell didn't mean they'd win. Or survive. She knew this was going to be a blood bath; for god's sake, she was already sliced open because of a clumsy mistake. She could hear voices as she began to blink, her eyes growing heavy. It sounded as though someone was telling someone else to let her sleep. As she drifted into unconsciousness, she remembered when she'd asked her mom about what she'd said on her psychiatric evaluation prior to being cleared to go to Terra Nova. Her mother had simply replied that she'd used the frog fact Maddy had taught her years ago. _If you put a frog in a frying pan, and turn the heat up slowly, it'll just stay there until it dies._ Right now, Maddy couldn't help but to feel like that frog.

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><p><strong>Holy crap. That was really, really long. But then again, I had to cover a lot of ground in this chapter, so yeah. If you guys give me enough good feedback, there's a chance I'll add the other major plotline into this. But again, it all just depends on what you guys have to say. Well, this has certainly given me a headache, so I believe that I'll just end the chapter here. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to press the magical review button. If you do, Mark Reynolds will come through your screen. ;)<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Why hello there. So I got 22 reviews for the first chapter. Even though one person reviewed four times (three of those on accident I presume)…holy…asdfghjkl. Thank you so much, that means like, the world. This chapter's gonna be fairly long, so brace yourselves. And since you all liked this so much, I might expand the story a bit. Plus I finally gave Reilly a name…so yeah. Thanks to everyone who's been watching my random videos on YouTube, nice to see some of you enjoy my putting Jim Shannon to a-well, to a certain song. Now I believe it's time we go check on a certain member of the Shannon family and see how they're holding up. ;)**

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><p>Jim Shannon ran like the wind.<p>

He'd been notified by some random soldier who'd been told by his wife who'd been told by Reynolds that Taylor was looking for him. Normally, he'd disregard _anything_ that usually came out of Reynolds' mouth, it was part of the whole make-my-future-son-in-law's-life-hell-as-karma-for-taking-my-Maddy-away-from-me plan he had going on, but once the boy had said Maddy was involved, Jim had taken off. The poor kid had probably thought a tornado past him after Jim was gone.

He took the stairs up to the command center three at a time, probably giving some of the passing by civilians a lovely show. Oh yes, who wouldn't dare to turn down the chance to see Jim Shannon possibly trip going up the stairs? At the speed he was going, there was a very high chance he would fall. But to his-and the other twenty people watching-amazement, he made it up to the top of the command center scrape free.

Another one of the soldiers whom he'd never really taken the time to remember the name of opened the door, not even waiting for Jim to get anything out of his mouth. Around Taylor's desk were Malcolm, Guzman, Taylor, Dunham and Reynolds. Reynolds looked as though he'd seen a ghost. The kid's face was whiter than the whites of his eyes. Jim raised an eyebrow.

"You wanted to see me?"

"For god's sake Reynolds, you look as though you're about to pass out," Dunham said, patting Mark's back as he rounded Taylor's desk to observe the holographic map Taylor had pulled up. Taylor however, had his head down on the desk, muttering to himself.

"Excuse me for worrying." Mark mumbled.

Jim was now beyond confused. He reached Taylor's desk and put both hands down on it, leaning forward. "Anyone care to explain to me what the hell is going on?" he asked. Taylor sighed as Guzman began zooming in on the map. Jim noticed a bunch of blinking, rapidly moving red dots all moving in a circle. Taylor cursed under his breath as he looked up at Jim.

"Your daughter and the science teams got lost in Slasher territory, and now we can't reach them." Taylor sighed. Jim felt his heart stop pumping. And once it started pumping again, his veins were frozen over. _His Maddy. In Slasher territory. Unable to contact. _So that explained why Reynolds looked like a sheet. Jim wanted to hop in a rover right then and there and speed off into the jungle to rescue his princess, but he was immobile.

"You sure you can't track the rover, sir?" Mark said through clenched teeth. His fists were balled, and it looked as though he was going to start throwing punches at Malcolm any second for sending his Maddy out on the assignment, even though Malcolm had nothing to do with it. Jim didn't blame him, Malcolm's annoying nature practically gave the man a flashing sign over his head saying _**PUNCH ME, PUNCH ME!**_ In reality, good old Malcolmus was in the background banging on a receiver, trying to get some sort of connection established. It seemed pretty hopeless.

Taylor shook his head. "You see the red rotating circle on the map son? That's indicating that it's what most people call an out of reach area. Anything in that area is unreachable via radio. And my guess is that the rovers are in that circle." Jim's eyes almost bugged out of his head as he did the math in his head.

"That's a good-"

Guzman nodded. "Twelve clicks out, we know. Unfortunately, anything between five and fifteen clicks is Slasher territory."

Jim was stunned. No one was moving, doing anything. All they were doing was sitting around, staring at a map with a revolving circle on it. They were doing _nothing_. "Well, let's get out there and go find them! Twelve clicks, that's only an hour drive out, we can make it before nightfall and have them back by then!" Jim exclaimed, motioning out the window to where all the vehicles sat untouched.

Mark shook his head. "We have to wait twenty four hours before we can go looking for them."

Jim's eyes widened. "What idiot told you that, soldier?" Mark scowled and pointed to Malcolm, who was still hitting the receiver. _I will kill you one day, Malcolmus. So help me God. _So _this _was why the kid looked as though he was about to explode and knock Malcolm unconscious. He had to wait twenty four hours until he could go search for Maddy. Never in Jim's entire existence would he think that he'd actually share the same feelings as the same boy who would one day steal his daughter from him. But there he was, siding with Reynolds.

Jim knew he had to word all of this very, very carefully. Taylor was already extremely stressed as it was, and one wrong word, Jim would find himself serving time in an OTG outpost faster than he could spit out an apology. So taking a deep breath, he asked the only question he could bear to ask without having some sort of emotional breakdown. "How many hours left?" He watched in horror as Dunham, Taylor and Guzman held up their hands. Dunham and Guzman had all ten fingers up, Taylor holding up one. Mark let out a groan, and Jim's eyes narrowed at no one in particular. The next twenty one hours would be hell for the soldiers holding him back from getting Maddy if_ Jim Shannon _had anything to do with it.

* * *

><p>There hadn't been anymore signs of a Slasher in at least an hour, so the four colonists decided that it was safe to go out for just a little bit. They only had about two more hours until sundown until war would break out, and they had to be ready. William and Henry were sent to find anything to cover them that wouldn't give their scent away while Maddy and Reilly went to look for food and water. None of them tried to get out of view of the rover; they needed that if they wanted to stay alive. After a good forty five minutes, Maddy and Riley came back with a giant canteen of water and a couple of fruits native to that area. William and Henry returned moments later with a tub full of the same disgusting substance made from stink leaves that Maddy and Mark had used when they'd been stuck OTG on their first date.<p>

Maddy's nose wrinkled as she wiped the newly formed sweat beads from her forehead. "See you guys found our cover," she stated as she opened the door to the rover, putting their food and water under the passenger seat. William and Henry nodded, their abdomens covered in sweat. They'd long since ditched their shirts in protest that they didn't want their shirts wet when and if it got cold any, but the two women knew that they were just looking for an excuse to go shirtless. Maddy and Reilly, who'd insisted Maddy call her Emma, had stripped down to nothing but boarding shorts they'd packed in the rare case they got to go swimming for break and tank tops.

"Who's first to be camouflaged, ladies?" Henry asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Maddy and Emma rolled their eyes as he stuck his hand into the tub and brought up a handful of the horrible smelling mud. Maddy stepped forward, her eyes closed and head held back.

"Just get it over with," she said, breathing out of her mouth. Henry shrugged and slapped the mud right onto Maddy's torso. She almost jumped back in shock from the smell and coldness to it, but recomposed herself while Henry slathered her down with the mud like it was lotion. When he got to her neck and face, Maddy couldn't help but to gag. He just chuckled as he continued to rub her down. "Don't worry Mads, I'll let you get your revenge and you can put it all on me." Finally, Henry finished camouflaging her and handed her the tub in return.

She smirked, pleased to be getting even. She reached into the tub and got a giant handful of the stuff and slapped it on Henry's bare chest. Raising an eyebrow, he nodded slowly. "That all you got, Shannon?" So she squared her jaw, determined to make him pay. He just chuckled as she got more and more irritated with him, slapping the stuff onto his face and vigorously rubbing it in. His amusement at her irritation seemed to rile her up even more. She finally had one spot left and with everything she had, she slammed the mud onto him, causing him to stumble backwards. She smiled smugly as he held his hands up. "Alright, alright, you win."

"Good."

"Now give me a hug."

Maddy wrinkled her nose as she handed the tub over to Emma and William. "Eww, god no, you smell awful." Emma laughed as Maddy climbed back into the rover and began establishing some sort of order in there. Being the neat freak that she was, everything had to be organized or she'd go ballistic. She started by opening a hatch in the floorboards and stuffed all of their food and meds in there. The better protected they were, the better off the team of four would be in the long run. She then examined all the weapons that they had.

In the end of her little inventory, they were at a grand total of six sonic pistols, four rifles, and four of the guns similar to what Maddy had been forced to use earlier. Looking at them now, it was evident that they were elaborately pieced. Only a certain bullet would fit and work with that gun. Taking a bullet out gently with her trembling fingers, she looked at it. It was shining with the bit of sunlight that it caught, and Maddy was totally mesmerized. The smoothness and coolness to it made Maddy shiver just a little, but what she saw next sent chills rippling down her spine.

On the bottom of the bullet were six tiny markings. _254-242. _Running her fingers over the miniscule numbers, it was clear that they'd been engraved in there. She then pulled another bullet out of one of the ammo cases where they'd put their reloads. Sure enough, for every bullet that was meant for that gun had those six numbers on them. "Two five four two four two," she muttered. "EMMA!" she cried out.

In almost three seconds flat, Emma was in the rover checking over Maddy to see what the matter was. "What? What's wrong Maddy, did you see something?" she asked. Maddy pointed down at the bullet in explanation, and Emma grabbed it from her. "What is this?" Maddy shook her head as she sat her hands down in her lap.

"I have no idea. All I know is that every bullet that goes in these guns have the exact same thing on them. Is this someone's idea of a practical joke?" Maddy asked, her voice quavering. She was starting to get scared. Why would someone post a bunch of numbers on the bottoms of bullets? It made no sense to her, but she was determined to figure out what they meant. Last time her dad had found something on the bottom of a bullet, it lead him straight to Commander Taylor who had been hiding out in the jungle.

Emma just nodded slowly. "Whatever it is, we'll investigate it once we make it out of this hell of a night." Maddy's eyes lowered slightly at the bullets. Emma looked out the tiny window. "We've got about an hour before sundown. Time to give you a little crash course in surviving a Slasher."

Helping Maddy out of the rover with a gun in hand, Emma pulled the eldest Shannon girl over to the side away from William and Henry's fire building process. "Okay, so tonight you're gonna see Slashers and then there's the occasional Nyko here and there. Either way, these guns aren't going to keep them away forever. We're covered by trees, so in the rare chance they destroy the rover, get up as high in a tree as you can with a gun and stay silent until the sun comes up. Got that much?" Maddy nodded in response, still a bit frightened. "William and Henry are building a fire, which we can only hope will keep them away for a bit, seeing as how no dinosaur likes fire. Surely Lieutenant Washington taught you that much in survival training."

Maddy nodded, swallowing the bile in her throat. She could feel her entire body going cold as the sole mention of the deceased lieutenant and the fact that she'd be facing off hordes of dinosaurs that wanted- and probably could without putting forth any effort- to eat her. Emma smiled reassuringly at her. "Don't worry Maddy; nothing is going to happen to you tonight. Two of us are highly trained soldiers and the other is probably dumb enough that he'll scare them off without any gunfire." Maddy just shot Emma a not very convinced smile, but one that was good enough that said 'I'm-fine-don't-worry-about-me'.

Emma then handed Maddy an empty sonic pistol and closed her tiny hand around it. "Alright Maddy, now with this gun, all you have to do is shoot the underbelly of a Slasher. You may have to give it a few good tugs on the trigger because it can get a bit sticky, but it fires well. We have the most of these and the most ammo for them, so I'm gonna start you out with one of these. But be careful, if you're not, you'll find yourself out of ammo faster than you can say, 'I'm out'." She then got behind Maddy and lifted her arm. She then forced Maddy's finger down and the sound of an empty shot rang out. "And that is how you aim one of those," she said, taking the gun from Maddy.

She then got one of the rifles. "These bad boys are a bit more complicated to use. They're built similar to one of the guns you used earlier, but they take a firm push to the trigger or nothing happens." Emma stood back as Maddy aimed for one of the trees and pushed down on the trigger. Another empty shot sounded and Maddy lowered the gun. Emma smiled smugly. "You know, I think you'll be just fine tonight. Maddy just nodded, her face turning red.

William turned around to say something as he and Henry began fanning the ever growing flames. The fire they had built was fairly large and needed a fair bit of oxygen before it was at full growth. But he never got anything out because there was a loud, fairly irritated screech from deep in the jungle.

* * *

><p>Mark sighed, sitting on the edge of his bed. Commander Taylor had relieved him of his shift so he could get his head back in the game. The countdown until they could send a search party out had slowly but surely continued decreasing, but there was still what seemed like an eternity between that time and the time when he could get in a rover and speed off to find Maddy.<p>

He'd spent a round hour pacing back and forth, trying to reassure himself in some way, reminding himself that she was with Reilly and Henry and that she'd be well protected. They'd teach her how to fire a gun, how to stay hidden, and they'd be alright. And once the clock passed twenty four hours, he'd go searching for her faster than the speed of light. The chances were they'd make it to the outpost and everything would be fine. He kept trying to tell himself that she was in good hands, but he couldn't stop worrying.

He should've offered to go. He should've jumped when he heard that they needed an extra soldier on board for the trip. At least that way he could keep his promise to her that he'd always keep her safe. He was counting on Reilly to keep her safe and not let any harm get in her way. Because he'd let her down before. Not telling any of his guys when they went on their first date OTG. Being OTG when the Ken Horton imposter tried murdering her. The entire time Lucas and his Phoenix Group buddies tried to destroy Terra Nova. He would go to the ends of the earth and back to keep her out of harm's way.

And here he was twelve klicks away from her and unable to do a damn thing about it.

Jim Shannon wasn't holding up any better. He was sitting on a rock in the square, almost statue like. A billion thoughts were racing through his head, and it was taking every ounce of willpower he had not to steal a rover and head out exactly where Maddy was. Or close to it anyways. Telling his wife had gone not as smoothly as he'd expected it to.

_He stormed into the infirmary, not caring who or what he had to push out of his way. He had a beeline directly to his wife and was not stopping for any reason. Almost sprinting towards the bio bed that he saw his wife at, he had to push a poor, innocent nurse and a tray of meds out of the way. "Sorry!" he shouted back as the woman stumbled. "Elisabeth! E-ELISABETH!"_

_His wife turned around, an irate look on her face. "What do you want Jim, I'm about to perform surgery!" she hissed. Jim grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the bio bed, holding his hand up in apology in the direction of the patient. Elisabeth folded her arms and glared at Jim._

_Taking a deep breath, he began to rush out everything into one sentence. "Maddy's team is unreachable, no one's heard from them and they're located in Slasher territory and we have to wait eighteen more hours before we can even begin forming a search party and I'm freaking out Lis, freaking out!" he said, putting his hands behind his head. Elisabeth's eyes were wide as she leant in closer to him for a bit more privacy. _

"_Whoa whoa whoa, Jim, start over and slow down. Now what's happened?" she asked._

"_Maddy and the rest of her scientist buddy friend coworker whatever people, they're all unable to contact. We can't track them down in any way because they're in an out of reach area, no one can get them in contact. That out of reach area is Slasher territory, and it figures that your damn coworker Malcolm would state that we can't go after them until twenty four hours has passed!" he stated through gritted teeth._

_Elisabeth sighed and put her hands over her face. She then grabbed a passing nurse. "Nurse Ogawa, can you do this surgery for me, I need to go have a word with Malcolm." Nurse Ogawa nodded and ran off to find a pair of gloves. Dragging Jim out of the infirmary with her, it was clear that she was going to find Malcolm and pound him into the ground._

It had been an hour since Jim had seen his wife, and from what he'd heard, she'd definitely given Malcolmus a piece of her mind. Dunham had even said that she'd destroyed every bit of his latest project because she was so infuriated with him. Jim had wanted nothing more than to pick Elisabeth up and spin her around. But now he was sitting here on this rock, just thinking. He hoped to God that Emma had taught her how to shoot a gun. Looking up at the sky, he sighed.

Only seventeen hours, fifteen minutes, and thirty seven seconds left.

* * *

><p>There was another screech from a few hundred yards away not twenty seconds after the first. Maddy's eyes widened as Emma grabbed her wrist. William and Henry began frantically fanning the flames, trying desperately to get them to rise. "OH FOR GOD'S SAKE, WE DON'T HAVE TIME! COME ON!" Emma roared as she helped the rest of Maddy into the rover. The two men then ditched their fire fanning and rushed to the rover<p>

William turned around, keeping watch as Henry and Emma climbed in hastily and could instantly tell that something was headed directly for them. Eyes wide, he began shoving Henry in. "Go go go GO!" he shouted as he jumped in and slammed the door shut. Right at that moment, the rover rocked a bit. Maddy bit down on her lip, feeling nauseated. She had been wrong; none of her mental or physical preparation had helped whatsoever.

"What the hell happened to the fire?" Henry said, panting. William shook his head as he tried to recompose and stabilize himself as the rover stopped rocking. Emma began pulling out several guns and laying them in the floorboard.

"It must have come from the opposite way. If that fire gets any bigger though, it'll hightail it for awhile." William replied breathily, him and Henry both looking out one of the tiny windows. Sure enough, the fire was beginning to spread, highly irritating the carnivorous dinosaur.

It shrieked in fury as it began to back away from the fire. As it began to turn around to sprint off, Henry's eyes seemed to bug out of his head as he and William both snapped their heads back inside the rover. "SLASHER TAIL, GET DOWN!" Maddy sat immobilized as the others hit the floor. Henry grabbed Maddy's shirt and pulled her to where he was and then pushed her down by the back. About that time, she finally came around and closed her eyes shut as the Slasher whipped around, its tail hitting the backside of the rover at least twice before it ran away. Once again, the rover shook a little, but nothing serious enough to tip them over.

Maddy sat up, brushing the flyaway hairs out of her face. "Thanks," she said in Henry's direction. He waved it off as he handed her a gun. Sure enough, it was the gun she'd been entrusted with earlier. The one with the creepy bullets that had the numbers engraved in them. At least she knew how to work it. Emma looked out the window and then turned around, back pressed to the edge of the rover.

"It's gone, but it'll be back with friends before we know it," she sighed. "I don't know how lucky we'll get tonight." Maddy just listened intently, biting her lip yet again. Before she knew it, there'd be blood oozing from her bottom lip from all the pressure she was applying to it. Emma gave Maddy a look and tugged gently on her arm. "You're going to have a permanent indentation of your two front teeth on your lip if you bite down any harder."

"I know, I'm just…nervous," Maddy mumbled, looking down. "I'm only used to seeing these dinosaurs in textbooks or on my plex and I've never touched a gun in my life, and I'm just _scared_." Emma smiled sympathetically at the girl, patting her shoulder. She looked at the two men who were currently loading their guns and leant her head forward so she and Maddy would have a bit of privacy.

"Look, I promised Mark that I wouldn't let anything happen to you and I intend on keeping that promise tonight. Me and Henry and William, we're all going to keep you safe, even if it's the last thing we ever do. You're going to be fine, alright? As long as you keep your head level, you're going to be a survivor," Emma stated. _Survivor._ The word had a fairly nice ring to it, and Maddy wanted nothing more at the moment to be just that. Emma then looked up and leaned over in Henry's direction. "What time you say it is?"

Henry shrugged. "About six if you ask me. Sun goes down at five forty five and comes back up at five the next morning. So we're going on about eleven hours of darkness." It was obvious he was using the regular description of time so Maddy would understand because her eavesdropping act couldn't have gotten any more obvious. Maddy gulped. Eleven hours of fighting. Would she even last?

Emma nodded. "Alright, so while we're clear for a bit, let's make a plan. We all fight until midnight, and then we'll take shifts. Two and a half hour shifts a piece. Maddy, you and Henry will take the first shift while William and I sleep and then we'll switch out at two thirty." Emma then turned her attention to Maddy. "If for any reason you and Henry start falling short and are unable to hold them off, wake us up and we'll make a break for the trees." Maddy nodded vigorously as another shriek sounded.

William cracked his knuckles and tilted his head from side to side as he picked up his gun. "Let's kick some Slasher ass." There was another irritated screech from directly outside the rover and Maddy could see an eye just barely as the Slasher paced around them. Her heart seemed to stop beating. She was terrified. Emma reached over and gave Maddy a quick hug. William smiled reassuringly at Maddy. "You'll be alright kid."

Maddy just hoped they were right.

Suddenly, the Slasher rammed into the side of the rover and it took everything Maddy had not to scream and start crying for her dad. Emma began firing out of the window and the Slasher was clearly not happy about that. It screeched again and bared its teeth at the window before retreating a few steps back. It then turned and began making its usual attraction call. Henry cursed under his breath.

Maddy just raised an eyebrow as William began explaining quickly. "Attraction call. Before we know it it'll have attracted its friends and we'll be surrounded." Maddy's heart began slowing as William stuck his head out of the window. "THREE MORE!" he shouted.

Emma turned to Maddy. "Alright Shannon, time to show us what you got. You see that one near the back? Shoot it like hell," she said smiling. Maddy shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. Emma squeezed Maddy's shoulder. "I know you're scared but you have to do this. Pretend that…pretend the Slasher's hurt everyone you love and you want revenge. That's how I learned how to do this." Maddy took a deep breath and nodded. "Thatta girl. Your dad and Mark would be really proud of you."

Maddy then turned around and got on both knees as she angled the gun out the window. The dinosaur had its side to her and couldn't see her. Instead, it was making its own attraction call. Smirking to herself, she realized that she had the advantage here. _Pretend it's hurt everyone you love and you want revenge. _A growl emitted from her throat and she began firing. The Slasher shrieked and jumped back, clearly upset that Maddy had ambushed her. But Maddy didn't care; she was seeing red as she continued firing. Eventually the Slasher was fed up and disappeared into the bushes. She then turned herself back into the rover, smiling at Henry who wasn't firing at the moment. "I did it," she said.

"Congrats Shannon, you did it! Now if you do that when every Slasher comes your way, you're going to be absolutely fine." Maddy just nodded, the smile on her face still growing. Suddenly, Emma and William ducked back into the rover and hit the floor. Maddy took that as a hint that another Slasher tail was on its way and immediately ducked. Sure enough, the rover began to sway. Maddy began to count the seconds that passed and once she reached thirteen she figured it was safe to sit up.

William then crawled his way over to where Maddy was. She could see in the extremely dim light that he had a long scrape down the side of his temple. "Your mom's a doctor right? See if you can patch up this place on my head…accidently scraped it on the side of the window." Maddy silently grabbed the medical kit and pulled out some disinfectant. She hoped that all the wounds she'd have to clean tonight would be the clumsy ones. Around her, she felt as though she was on a war front. Emma and Henry were both firing like crazy at the evidently pissed off Slashers. William sat still with his head tilted in Maddy's direction.

"You know, this is probably how Nathaniel and Alicia felt when they were in Somalia," he said to no one in particular. Maddy clucked her tongue in response as she pulled out a bandage. Pressing it to his forehead and applying it, Maddy listened as William continued talking to himself. "Although I'm pretty sure Nathaniel had more than just a few scrapes. Took seventy seven stitches once."

"That's what I'd heard," Maddy responded before ruffling his hair. "You're all good Will. But no more both of you trying to hang out the same window, alright?" William nodded right as the rover began to rock violently. William crawled back over to his position and Maddy began to close the medical kit and shove it back into its rightful place.

"MADDY, GET A GUN AND START FIRING, WE'RE COMPLETELY SURROUNDED!" Henry screamed from his window. Maddy sat there for a split second before she remembered the bit about vengeance. Grabbing a sonic pistol, she began rapidly firing at two Slashers at the same time. She could taste metal on her tongue as she fired, not caring that they were dangerously close to the window or that they were most irritated with her shots at the moment. She wasn't going to hold back. Not now.

* * *

><p>Dinner at the Shannon household was an extremely awkward event. Instead of five around a table there were only four. Jim Shannon was watching the clock like a hawk, never taking his eyes off of it. Josh Shannon was quiet as always, not bothering to try and agitate his father more with a smartass comment. Elisabeth and Zoe were quietly talking, Elisabeth trying to keep Zoe occupied enough that she wouldn't ask a question about Maddy and spark up some household war.<p>

Jim knew that there were only sixteen more hours until he could go save his daughter. But that seemed more like an eternity than the past eight hours had been. Taylor had finally gotten sick and tired of Jim's nasty attitude and let him leave his shift early in hopes that Jim would get his act together. What a wrong, wrong decision. Jim's attitude had gotten worse if you asked any member of the Shannon family.

Elisabeth had suggested that they invite Mark and Skye over to keep the children occupied while Elisabeth and Jim strategize on what they'd do if they had to form the search party. Jim had immediately shot down the whole Mark coming over idea quickly, and Josh had replied that Skye was off OTG working on some research project under Taylor. So Zoe had taken up pestering her brother to play fabric dinosaurs with her.

"For god's sake Jim, you and Mark are both stressing over the same thing, why don't you both go to Boylan's together and bond? I'm sure Maddy would appreciate it if she were here to have a say in all this." Jim then covered his ears as Elisabeth gently hit his arm. "Don't cover your ears!" she chided.

"I can't go talk to the boy now! I'll keep thinking of Maddy and all that will result in is my committing Malcolm's murder and you'll find yourself without a husband. I don't think you want that, now do you?" he hissed. Elisabeth shrugged.

"Whatever, but I still think you need to talk to him before you all go out and look for her, alright?" Jim just nodded at his scolding wife, in order to get him off her case. Elisabeth rolled her eyes before she got up from the dinner table and began washing the dishes. Scowling, Jim grabbed his jacket and headed out the door, directly for the solider housing. Elisabeth just smiled smugly as the door to their housing unit slammed closed.

It was fairly chilly outside as Jim Shannon headed off to the house he so hated to always go to in order to retrieve his daughter. Walking with his head down, he could hear the faint notes of music coming from one of the porches. Sure enough, as he got closer, he could see Mark sitting on his front porch strumming a guitar. He walked up slowly to the boy and sat down on the edge of the tiny garden. Mark immediately looked up, a bit frightened.

There was a long moment of silence as the two sat awkwardly. Jim just continued to stare at the ground as Mark uncomfortably shifted himself, setting his guitar down. Finally, Jim looked up, staring at the boy. He could see Mark's pain painted all over his face. Mark missed Maddy. Had this been a normal night, Jim would have given him an extremely stern threat and then maybe shot him on the lowest setting possible, but it wasn't much of a normal night. He couldn't think of anything to say to the boy. So he got up and hugged the boy. Mark was a bit shocked as Jim just wrapped his arms around him, but eventually he just wrapped his arms back around the man and stayed there. He hadn't had a father figure in his life for awhile, and right about now he was making up for lost time. Jim silently murmured into the boy's shoulder, "We're going to find her."

God knows how he hoped Elisabeth was still at home, because if not, he'd never hear the end of this.

* * *

><p>Hours had passed since the beginning of nightfall. Maddy had fixed thirteen wounds in that time-four on Henry, who forever loved to live up to the scarred for life part of his job description, three on Emma who just hadn't had much luck, three on William, and three on herself from absolute clumsiness. Emma's tips had helped her throughout the night and she'd easily scared away a fair number of Slashers. It had reached past midnight and Maddy was feeling about as grotesque as she probably looked. The flyaway hairs on the back of her neck were plastered down with pure sweat, she smelled horrible thanks to the stink leaves, and she was getting uncomfortable with the amount of heat in the rover which was affecting with the position of her gauze.<p>

There were plenty of fuming screeches from the Slashers outside, and Maddy had gotten into a routine of shooting until she was out of ammo, then she'd grab a different type of gun and shoot until it was out. When they were all out of ammo, she'd then quickly reload them and began shooting again. It had only been an hour but it felt extremely longer than that. She wiped her brow and turned back to facing inside, beginning to reload again. Henry had fallen into sort of a similar pattern and was reloading himself. "How are you holding up?" he whispered to her.

"I'm fine for now," she replied before picking up another gun. Again were more high pitched, pissed off screeches from the Slashers. "Think we can hold on until two thirty?" She then rested the edge of the gun out the window and collapsed against the wall of the rover. Henry shrugged before he turned his back to her and began firing again.

Exhausted, Maddy turned towards the outside and continued firing. She was weary and there were more Slashers than she'd ever imagined. She grabbed her canteen and took a swig of water as she continued firing at the underbellies of the stupid dinosaurs. Her eyes were blurring over and she desperately needed sleep. But she had another half hour to go before she got any kind of rest. One quite daring Slasher snapped right near the gun and Maddy's eyes widened as she shot it in the mouth. _Big mistake_, she thought. It knocked her gun out of the window and lunged for her hand. She then pulled it into the window and prepared for the worst. The Slasher then reared back and then rammed its head into the side of the rover where she was right as she dove towards Henry's side of the vehicle.

"I can't fight them off anymore," she said with remorse in her voice. Henry turned around, smiling sadly in agreement. "They're growing in size and we're down a gun thanks to my pissing it off. We've got to make a break for the trees." Henry just nodded as he began rounding up all their water, food, meds, and ammo into four separate packs.

Maddy crawled over to where Emma and William lie asleep and began violently shaking them. "Emma…William…wake up! We're leaving the rover!" Sighing in frustration, she got right by the both of their ears and began shouting. "UP, UP, GET UP!"

The two of them shot up as Henry shoved a pack and weapon into their hands. "We've got to get out; we can't hold them off any longer. There's a tree about sixteen feet from here that I think will hold all of us. Same partners cover each other, ladies go up first. Then maybe we can all get some sleep. Everything we need is in these bags, so try not to drop them, alright?" he ran down the plan as Emma began pulling out the portable radio from behind the backseat.

William took a quick look out of his window. "I see the tree; I think we're pretty clear on this side. If we run fast enough we'll be okay," he said breathily. "On three, alright?" The rest of them nodded before he slung the door open.

The next five minutes passed by so quickly that everything was a blur to Maddy. Henry went out of the rover at the same time as she did and they both began sprinting to the tree, William and Emma right behind them. They would each shoot twice on their side to keep the Slashers at a distance. At that point, the Slashers had finally jumped onto the rover, tipping it over and tearing it to shreds in order to find fresh meat where the gun shots weren't. Most of the Slashers they'd shot at had darted into the bushes, away from them. Finally reaching the tree, Maddy frowned. She didn't have luck with these, and turned to her partner. Henry gave Maddy a boost up into the tree with Emma on her heels, and she scrambled up into the tree. Panting, Emma sat down beside her as they waited for the two men to join them. Finally, they joined them in the tree, clutching onto their packs. They all then began to shove their weapons into the bags before nestling into a side of a branch to go to sleep. They'd be fine for the next three hours, high enough that a Slasher couldn't reach and silent enough that they wouldn't realize they'd escaped to there. And as Maddy drifted off into slumber, she couldn't help but to think about everything Henry had done for and with her that night. Was Henry after her? Shrugging and nestling deeper against the branch, she figured it could all wait until morning.

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><p><strong>Wow. This chapter was a pain to write, seeing as how every time I messed up I had to click my extremely screwed up backspace key. Needless to say, I have a huge cramp in my hand right now. Anyways, this is an extremely long chapter compared to what I usually write, so sorry if it kind of bored you. I tried to keep things moving as best I could. I also wanted to finish seeing as how I won't get to update until the weekend since break is now officially over. You better pray that I get snow sometime if you want a lot of frequent updates. The numbers on the bullets, what do you think they mean? They're going to play a big part in this story, I promise you. :] With that, I think that I'm going to sign off for this chapter. I have the worst hand cramp and a really early morning coming fast. Remember, I love you, be yourself, and Jim Shannon wants you to know that he's sexy and he knows it. Love, Emzy<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I finally fixed my stupid backspace key! Thank you oh so handy safety pin and my miraculous sudden gift to see what the heck was making it stick underneath. Also, if you want to read more of my work, go check out my story The Lion and the Lamb. If you like this story, you'll definitely like it. :) This chapter might be a bit boring but it's pretty crucial if you want to know how the rest of the story's going to play out! You guys better be glad I love you; I've had to start this over FIVE times. So without further ado...**

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><p>Jim Shannon didn't want the opening of two consecutive chapters, but he'd best shut the hell up before he finds himself getting spontaneously killed off.<p>

He'd gotten a grand total of forty five minutes of sleep that night. He would close his eyes, toss and turn a bit until he got comfortable at some angle, and tried to let darkness swallow him. But the cogs in his head would continue whirring, and his eyes would fly open. Then that process would repeat about seven hundred more times until the sun came up and it was time to start a new day. Sort of.

After rolling out of his bed, Jim had walked into the kitchen. He wanted nothing more than to sit down at the table, prop up his fist and doze off now that the lack of sleep was catching up with him, but of course, Elisabeth would have none of that. She tossed him an apple and pointed at the door. "No way, Taylor just called your comm. He wants you in his office ASAP."

By the time Jim had actually reached the command center, he was positive an extra fifteen minutes had been tacked onto the walk seeing as how he was practically a zombie. The same nameless soldier already had the door wide open once Jim made it to the top of the staircase.

Staring at Jim dumbfounded were the same men who'd been around the desk earlier. Jim was starting to suspect that they were starting some get together man gossip circle or something of that nature. Malcolm choked back a snort as he whirled around, hand over his mouth. Taylor, who looked on the verge of throwing something out the window, just shook his head before laying it down on the desk in between his arms. Reynolds still looked like a sheet, but the faintest bit of color had returned to his cheeks. Taking a bite of the apple, Jim sleepily walked over to the carno skull desk and collapsed in a chair in front of it. Malcolm swallowed his laughs and quickly pulled up another holographic map before turning around again.

"What the hell is this supposed to be, exactly?" Jim said drowsily, leaning forward. The map had been zoomed into an area that was free of canopy, and giant rock like structures lay scattered in the clearing. Guzman just patted Taylor's back as Dunham opened his mouth.

"That, Mr. Shannon, is the last place we found a signal coming from the teams." Jim felt the apple drop to the floor and his eyes bug out of his head. Dunham continued right on talking however. "Those gigantic pieces of metal are the exact type of metal used in the structure of the rovers, meaning one, if not both, flipped." Jim's heart stopped beating for a moment, and once he came back, he was no longer sleepy whatsoever.

"So what are we supposed to do, just sit on our asses for five more hours and wait for something else bad to happen?" Jim replied sarcastically, earning him a lovely sign that he was number one from the commander himself. Malcolm rolled his eyes.

Guzman shook his head. "Commander said we might as well just go ahead and form a search party. If we haven't heard anything from them by now, then we probably won't get anything any time soon."

Jim wanted to jump up in victory. Finally he was able to do something about this. Reynolds looked a bit more relieved at this revelation; Jim knew he was itching to get out of Terra Nova and find Maddy also. Maybe this little OTG expedition would break up the little man group they had going on, it was beginning to creep Jim out.

Standing up, Jim put on his 'I-am-the-victorious-father-copper-and-I-am-now-unstoppable' face. "So, what do I need to do first?" he asked.

Taylor took that moment to sit up. His hands clasped together as he stared at the beyond eager sheriff who had the look of a young child on Christmas Day colored all over his face. Examining the Shannon father, his brain had a thousand different words flying around, but his lips failed to speak any of them. Finally, the only reasonable answers came to him, and he cleared his throat. "The first thing you can do Shannon, would be to go put on some clothes; the whole nothing-but-your-boxers look isn't the most attractive thing." Jim's cheeks burned as the other men snorted. It was then that he realized that to his worst nightmare, they had indeed become a little man gossip circle cult-like thingy.

_God save me._

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><p>Maddy had never been more relieved than to be immersed in water.<p>

It wasn't her usual thirty minute hot water shower back home in the comforting tiny space mind you, but it was water, it was clean, and it was taking her mind off the fact that she was in the wilderness without a way to get back home unless they found a way to contact Terra Nova. They'd all decided to take a little detour in their travel to the outpost since it was broad daylight and there was a slim to none chance that a dinosaur would attack them. Henry had suggested that they all head to a river that was clean and get rid of all the grime, dried sweat, flaking mud and blood off of them. Maddy? She'd said yes without a second of hesitation.

They'd arrived above the river, a waterfall leading down to a small pool below which flowed out into the river. Maddy had looked at Henry with a look of pure horror on her face. Henry smiled sheepishly. "Did I mention that you'll have to jump in order to get to the river?" Maddy then whacked him in the arm.

"No, you failed to mention that part!" Emma just chuckled as she swung her arms back and forth, watching Maddy's temper-and the spark of fear- grow. Maddy rolled her eyes in annoyance at Henry and then looked down off the ledge.

All she saw was rushing water. They were so high up that she couldn't even see the bottom of the falls. The bile rising in her throat was forced back down as she just stared at the never ending flow of water. Turning back to see an overly smug Henry, she stared him square in the eye. "Do I have to jump?" she asked, the fear beginning to override her fury. Henry just nodded as he popped his knuckles.

Shaking out her hands, she began walking towards the edge. And once again, her fear pushed her back literally. She found herself behind Emma, her teeth making another set of imprints on her bottom lip. Emma just smiled sympathetically and snuck up behind Henry, who was flexing his biceps on the edge of the cliff. She then pushed him in, yelling, "BON VOYAGE!" as Henry screamed, flying down the edge of the fall at the speed of light. Maddy rushed over to the edge, and the faint sound of something breaking the surface of a pool at the bottom echoed. Emma just shot Maddy a thumbs up before jumping off the cliff herself.

Maddy watched as gravity pulled Emma back down to earth, her legs flailing as she shrieked with enlightenment. Another sound of a splash ricocheted off the edges of the falls. It was evident that William was going to walk down to the pond seeing as how he was carrying all of their necessities, and for a second Maddy debated on going with him. But as she took another look down the rushing falls, she figured that she might as well take a few chances. There was no protective father to tell her not to do it, and everyone else had made it down to safety. She needed the adrenaline rush; she figured that if she died out here she could at least die knowing what jumping off a cliff into a pool of water was like. And it wasn't a sin; Josh had done it plenty of times whenever he and Skye went OTG. Taking a deep breath, Maddy just nodded to herself as she stepped back a bit to get a running start. She exhaled and took off headlong off the edge of the cliff.

The second her feet left the ground and got nothing but air underneath them, she let out a scream. Her adrenaline was building as she flew to the bottom of the falls, her legs flailing underneath her. The wind blew around her, racing while gravity yanked her downwards. Every nerve in her body was a live wire, the sensation electrifying. She felt as though nothing could stop her, and wondered why she'd never done this before. She'd been missing out. As she continued to fall, she saw Henry and Emma cheering her on at the bottom. Mind you, it was just the bare outline of them, but Henry and Emma nonetheless. She didn't know if she was falling in slow motion or if it was just a really high drop because she had plenty of time to register everything. And before she knew it, she was engulfed in water.

She had forgotten to hold her breath, but then again who wouldn't, especially if they were falling at the speed of light off a cliff. Despite the fact that the water burned her lungs, she felt so refreshed. All of the sweat and dried filth began to lift off of her, her hair flowing out behind her. She finally came up for air, gasping as she began to tread water. Emma and Henry laughed as Maddy put a smile on her face. "Good job Mads, you're finally becoming a badass. Don't tell your dad we did this to you though," Henry said. Maddy just nodded.

Apparently she had been thinking a thousand things a minute, because fifteen minutes later, William finally reached the pool. Emma motioned for them to swim over to the bank, and Maddy followed reluctantly. She'd been dunked under about seventy times thanks to Henry and was soaked to the bone. Crawling onto the bank, William handed her a towel. Thank God that her mother was one who packed for at least two weeks when a trip only took two days. Wiping her face off, she settled herself down on a rock nearby. There were burnings in the rock, more than likely Lucas's calculations that had opened the portal once upon a time. It'd been months since Chu La Chum, and even Maddy knew that Lucas hadn't been too thrilled about that. They looked worn and faded, almost like a pair of jeans.

"Hey Maddy, look alive," Henry called as he tossed her an apple. Smiling, she caught it in both hands before taking a bite out of it. She'd never been more grateful for that apple at that point, because it wasn't until she took the first bite that she was famished. Her stomach was rumbling as she continued to eat the apple, glad that some sort of nutrition was being put in it. She hardly noticed Henry sitting down beside her until she turned her head and jumped slightly. He chuckled. "Sorry to scare you there, Mads…wow, you sure were hungry."

Maddy just shrugged as she set the core of the apple down beside her. Henry just eyed her as he took a bite of his own apple. Tracing over the equations, Maddy began humming. A shriek from Emma sounded, and the two whipped their heads around. To their relief, it was just the fact that William had pushed Emma in right as she was about to steal a bite of his apple. Maddy just shook her head, laughing a bit as Henry rolled his eyes. Looking over at Henry, Maddy began to speak. "Henry…can I ask you something?" Henry just nodded. "Could you think of anything that the numbers two-five-four-two-four-two would stand for?"

Henry stared at Maddy for a moment as though she was crazy and let out a little chuckle. "Maddy, why would you even need to know what those numbers mean? Unless you found a pair of tags or something, and even then who knows what it could mean…" Maddy sat up straighter, eyes widening as Henry continued eating his apple in a nonchalant matter.

"Tags? Henry, what would those numbers mean if they were on a pair of tags?" Maddy asked, suddenly so much more interested than she'd ever been when the situation revolved somewhat around Henry.

Henry shrugged. "Well usually, your tags are engraved so that way if someone finds them, they'll know who's they are. Even though your name is on them, your name is also engraved in numbers. Usually they're according to the telephone keypad, but it's just a way to confirm identity. If you wanted to know more about the numbers, you'd need to take up with Malcolm or Taylor once we get back, because that's all I know about them." At this point, Maddy was freaking the freak out. "Maddy, why do you look as though you're having a heart attack?" Henry inquired, getting a bit worried.

"EMMA!" Maddy cried. Emma, who had just pulled herself back up onto the bank, raced over to Maddy. Maddy looked at her with wide eyes. "Why didn't you tell me that all tags have numbers engraved in them?" Emma shrugged as Maddy continued rambling. "What if the numbers on the back of those bullets are tag-related? Henry said that the numbers on the bottom of tags stand for a name."

Emma smiled sadly. "Maddy, we found the numbers on the bottom of bullets, not on a pair of tags. And this idiot must have failed to mention that it's not always a name. Sometimes it's a codeword, sometimes it's just the numbers and nothing else. Besides, I couldn't even begin to think of a name that would have those numbers, much less a codeword." Maddy could feel her face fall as she slouched back. But Henry was already sitting upright.

"They were on the bottom of bullets? That's a different story then, why didn't you say so? Numbers on the bottom of bullets…well you know when Lucas took over, Taylor would play sniper and shoot the Phoenix Group with bullets that had map coordinates on them. Mind you, the numbers you gave me couldn't be map coordinates…but there is one thing that they can be. It's a guess, but-"

"JUST TELL US!" both women cried out in exasperation.

Henry took a deep breath. "A lot of times, if bullets are engraved-especially the ones we use here in Terra Nova, it means that someone has hand made them or put their marking on it. Your mysterious two-five-four-two-four-two, they must have intercepted the guns and the ammo before they made it into to Terra Nova. They're trying to get in touch with someone in Terra Nova, using this code because they know that the person they're trying to reach will understand it." Maddy and Emma exchanged glances, but Henry kept right on. "My guess is that we ended up with the guns either on accident or on purpose."

Maddy just stared at the equations once again, tracing over them. She sighed, shaking her head. "Whatever the reason, we'll have to wait until we get to the outpost before we can try to figure out what they mean." Then, looking up at the sky, she began to figure the time out. "I say we head on over to the outpost now, before we know it the dinosaurs who want nothing more than to rip us apart limb by limb and eat us like some of us eat pudding will be back and hungry."

The three of them left the rock and joined William on the bank. He handed all of them their individual bags and then looked around. "We've only got about a half a click until we get there. We'll make it in plenty of time." As they began trekking off into the jungle, Maddy moved her damp hair out of her eyes. She had to stay focused, otherwise everything would fall apart and the one person that had been on her mind ever since she'd woke up that morning would never see her again.

And she wouldn't have that.

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><p>"For the billionth time Elisabeth, there is no way that I'm letting you go out there with us!"<p>

"And for the billionth time, you'll need a medic; you even said it yourself! I'm her mother, you know!"

Jim had been having this argument with his wife for a good round hour and a half. Jim had been trying to round up the search party that would accompany him, Taylor, Reynolds, and Dunham (big surprise; that was two thirds of the accursed gossip circle he was now supposedly in) OTG in the search for the science teams. Taylor had given him the basics of the search party to hire – seven soldiers and two medics. Of course, Jim wouldn't dare to ask his wife to go. He wasn't going to risk losing yet another girl in his life. And of course, Elisabeth had been beyond pissed when she learned that revelation.

"Elisabeth, we are not having this conversation! I'm not letting you go, that's final!" Jim felt more like Elisabeth's father rather than her husband at this point, but he wasn't going to let her go and he didn't care how he put it. As long as she got the message, he didn't care how he had to make the delivery. He'd even contemplated on running off, dressing in drag, and dancing the Macarena if it meant that she'd understand she wasn't putting a toe outside of the gates.

Elisabeth was furious. Jim was treating her like a five year old. _Well, if he wants to treat me like one, guess I'll just have to act the part._Folding her arms, Elisabeth just narrowed her eyes at her husband. She knew that always scared the living hell out of him. "Oh yeah? Watch me." And with that, she stormed out of the house, not even giving Jim the chance to open his mouth to respond.

As she flew towards the soldiers quarters in an absolute rage, anyone who was in her beeline jumped out of the way immediately or got trampled. Everyone knew it like it was common sense-you didn't mess with Dr. Elisabeth Shannon. You don't defy her orders, you don't argue with her, and you most definitely do not stand in her way when she's having one of her angry rampage walks if you value your life.

She finally reached Mark's housing unit and began to bang on the door, her vision hazed over in a sheet of red. He wasn't answering the door, so she just continued banging, harder and louder. Getting frustrated, she gave the door a good kick right as Mark opened the door. His eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Everything alright, ma'am?" he asked calmly and politely as Elisabeth whisked by him into his house.

As he pulled the door to, she whirled around. "Damnit Mark, I told you to call me Elisabeth!" she shrieked. When she got a slightly confused, slightly frightened look from the boy, her eyes softened. "I'm sorry, it's just...Jim's being so stubborn." Sighing, she flopped down onto the couch. Mark walked slowly over to her, sitting down beside her. He began rubbing her back in small circles, and she looked up at him. "Have you all found a medic to go on the trip yet?" she asked quietly.

"No ma-I mean, no, we haven't, why?" Mark said. The evil gleam in Elisabeth's eyes shut him right up. Slouching a bit in defeat, he looked at her. "If your husband murders me for letting you come, I hope I get assigned to haunt you for eternity."

"Got yourself a deal, Mark."

On the other end of Terra Nova, Josh Shannon was freaking out. Skye's OTG group was supposed to have been back by then. They were getting a god forsaken _plant_; it didn't take five days to get a plant. It took five days to get research on a plant maybe, but it did not take five days to just acquire it. Even Taylor had agreed that the trip was not supposed to have taken that long, but there was no reason in going to get them because they'd made contact with Terra Nova multiple times, saying they were fine. Josh was beginning to wonder if he had the bad luck streak. What with his sister currently missing and her status unknown and his best-girl-friend-slash-girlfriend off OTG, he wasn't taking any of it lightly. At least he knew what he'd inherited from his dad-his patience.

So he had no choice but to lean up against the gate and watch as the rovers they intended on sending out for the search party got loaded and ready to go. His dad stormed off into one rover, a giant rifle in one hand. The look on his face was sheer determination, and the twinkle in his eye was there because of his thirst for revenge. Josh held up his hand to wave, but his dad slammed the door shut to the rover before he could call out a quick hello. About five minutes later, his mother and a fully armor-clad Mark walked into the rover, and Josh just looked at the rover in confusion. Then his look turned into one of annoyance. Raising his hand up in a wave, he grimaced. "Yeah, I'll be fine, thanks for the concern!" he called.

The second Mark and Elisabeth got in the rover Jim's head was down in the floorboard, stuffing his gun underneath there on safety. Dunham had the trunk open, stuffing meds and ammo inside, eagerly awaiting the reaction of Jim when he saw his wife and Reynolds in the same rover as him. "Oh good, Reynolds, you're with me and Taylor, this will go-"At that moment, Jim looked up just to see his wife with a smug smile on her face. She waved, and Jim groaned. "Well," he finished, closing his eyes and throwing his head back.

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><p>Reaching the outpost gave Maddy the most refreshing sense of relief that she'd ever have wash over her in her entire life. The door wasn't locked, thank God, but there were no rovers there to their disappointment. Walking through, William began setting the lock codes on the doors as Maddy and Emma took their things into the tiny sleeping room. To Maddy's surprise, the beds had already been turned down and looked as though someone had been sleeping in them for awhile. She just looked at Emma in confusion, and Emma shrugged. It probably didn't mean anything, it never did.<p>

Pulling her still drenched hair into a sloppy bun, she then headed off for the research lab. She couldn't help but to stand in awe as she entered the work area; it was somewhere where she knew she'd fit right into, somewhere where she belonged. But to her surprise yet again, it seemed as though someone had already been there. She knew that these were outposts and that the people that came to them came and went as they pleased; not bothering to clean up their messes because the person behind them usually just added onto it, but everything looked as though it had just been done.

"FREEZE!" a female voice shouted, and Maddy whirled around, hands up. To her total shock, Skye came out of the darkness with another guy whose name Maddy didn't know, a gun cocked right in her direction. Skye was covered in dried blood and sweat, panting. The second she recognized Maddy, she sighed in relief, lowering the gun. "Oh thank God it's just you Maddy, I was terrified that it might have been them," Skye said relieved. William, Henry, and Emma then joined Maddy in the lab, and just looked around at the scene in confusion, but Maddy stood frozen in horror.

Them?

_THEM?_

Well this would be fun.

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><p><strong>Well, that's that chapter. I'm so sorry that it's boring, but I made sure all the Jim parts were hilarious and a bit crack-y. I just find it so…EASY to make Jim this lovable idiot that always has the worst of luck and nothing ever goes right for him. Until next chapter, be sure to review and check out my other story The Lion and the Lamb. If you love me, you'll do it.<strong>

**Also, if you love Mark and want him to get to his Maddy, you'll do it. ;)**


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